Frequently asked questions

A teacher at the front of a class asks students questions at the vocational school in Tanzania
A teacher at the front of a class asks students questions at the vocational school in Tanzania. Jessica Turner for Anti-Slavery International

How old is Anti-Slavery International?

Anti-Slavery International is the world’s oldest human rights organisation and has been working to end slavery for over 180 years. Our roots are in the abolition movement that contributed to the end of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. We have carried our expertise into the 21st century, working tirelessly to see a world where everyone lives in freedom.

What does Anti-Slavery International do to end slavery?

We are growing a movement of people who believe that we all deserve to live in freedom. We make sure that people are protected from being exploited in slavery – in whatever form it takes. We convince governments to introduce and enforce much stronger laws – connecting people on the ground to those in power – so that people are protected from all forms of slavery.

For over 180 years, we have investigated, campaigned, and raised awareness to make sure that more people can live free from slavery all over the world.

We do not work alone. We build coalitions and bring people together. We are part of a global movement of survivors, international and local organisations, businesses, governments, and communities, all driven to resist slavery in all of its forms.

Throughout our history, we have learned what works. We convened the first slavery conference in 1840; worked with the United Nations to achieve a landmark ruling that recognised forced marriage as slavery; and helped bring about the world’s first Modern Slavery Act in the UK in 2015.

Find out more about how we work to end slavery.

Which countries does Anti-Slavery International work in?

Anti-Slavery International is based in the UK and our work is global. Our work is developed and delivered in partnership with local, national and international organisations that share our values and vision.

By working in this way, we can share expertise and increase impact, strengthen the global anti-slavery movement, and ensure that our work is based on the lived experience of people affected by slavery. See here for more information about our partnerships, and here for more information on our impact on the countries where we’ve worked.

How is Anti-Slavery International funded?

We rely on donations from people who share our vision for a world free from slavery. This includes governments, individuals, community groups, companies, trusts and foundations. A significant part of our funding comes from institutional and statutory funders. You can read more about our funding on our Charity Commission Page and in our most recent Annual Review.

How do you set your priorities?

We developed a strategy to guide our work from 2020 – 2025. Once priorities are set, we agree these with our Trustees.

What is your impact and how do you measure it?

We regularly assess our projects and programmes, seek feedback from our partners and also conduct third-party independent evaluations. We have developed an organisational approach to impact that is embedded in our strategy and is measured across key change indicators. We track impact across our core areas of legal protection, movement building, framing the issue and voice and participation. You can find out more about our impact here.

Can you tell which brands use slavery or which products were produced by slavery?

Global supply chains are so complex that it is nearly certain that slavery can be found in the supply chain of every single large company, and it is near impossible to guarantee a slavery-free product.

However, that doesn’t mean companies don’t have the responsibility to proactively do whatever is possible to ensure slavery doesn’t enter their supply chain and to prevent and remedy slavery when it is found. Recent laws and pioneering research have shown that businesses can track their supply chains and identify and prevent risks of forced labour.

Therefore, if large companies claim they are slavery-free, this is a red herring. A responsible company should be transparent about the modern slavery and exploitation risks in their supply chains, and what they are doing to prevent and mitigate these risks. When a company proactively tries to address slavery in its supply chains, it can be perceived negatively by consumers and the media. However, we need to encourage this positive action. Transparency and proactive work to address slavery risks is the sign of a business taking modern slavery seriously.

We encourage people to use their political power and call on their lawmakers to make sure that there are sufficient laws in place to protect people from all forms of slavery, including forced labour. We encourage consumers to use their consumer power to put pressure on companies to eradicate slavery from their supply chains and ask the question to their favourite brands.

We also provide business advisory services to support businesses to identify the risks of modern slavery in their supply chains and develop meaningful steps to address them. We work with businesses following the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), supporting alignment with the standards outlined in the corporate responsibility to respect human rights.

Does Anti-Slavery International encourage boycotts of brands or products?

We very rarely, if ever, join the calls to boycott specific companies or goods.

Boycotts can actually make the situation worse and can be harmful to the national economy and to the very people they are intended to help. Boycotts can put pressure on employers – both those who are already exploiting their workers, and those who are not – meaning that boycotts can have the unintended consequences of pushing more people into exploitative labour.

However, we do call for companies to fully end all direct or indirect sourcing of cotton from Turkmenistan and all goods from the Uyghur Region in China. In these cases, we recommend ending sourcing as a means to apply pressure on the perpetrating government to end the systems of forced labour. In these campaigns, we collaborate and work closely with the affected communities and their representatives who lead the movements calling for these boycotts.

Can you recommend any products that are slavery free?

Anti-Slavery International has a policy of non-endorsement. While we do work with businesses to advise them on how to assess the risk of slavery in their international supply chains, we do not endorse any products or services. Co-operation and relationships should not imply endorsement or preference of a particular business entity or its products or services.

In addition, as above, it is extremely difficult to conclude that any product is entirely slavery-free. Instead, Anti-Slavery International calls for strong laws that would require companies to be transparent about the slavery risks in their supply chains, and to take action to prevent and remedy these. We encourage businesses to find out more about our business advisory services and get in touch.

Questions about slavery

What has climate change got to do with modern slavery?

Understanding the links between climate change and modern slavery is a core part of our strategy.

As our planet faces the extreme threat of climate change, more and more people are increasingly vulnerable to climate change impacts, which can lead to an increased risk of modern slavery. Both people who are on the move as a result of climate change and people who are trapped or unable to move must have access to protections so that their human rights can be upheld – whatever their circumstances. We urgently need justice and protection from exploitation and slavery for all people impacted by climate change. This includes people involved in the production of the green energy technology we need to adapt, people who are unable to move location, and those seeking new homes, lives and livelihoods as a result of climate change. Responses to climate change must be context-specific and led by communities.

Isn’t slavery a thing of the past?

Sadly, no. As of the latest statistics in 2021, there are an estimated 49.6 million people in slavery. Slavery still exists today, and Anti-Slavery International is committed to fighting its contemporary forms and manifestations until they are ended.

Modern slavery is all around us, and can be hard to spot. People can become enslaved making our clothes, serving our food, picking our crops, working in factories, or working in houses as cooks, cleaners or nannies. Victims of modern slavery might face violence or threats, be forced into inescapable debt, or have their passport taken away and face being threatened with deportation.

According to the latest Global Estimates of Modern Slavery from Walk Free, the International Labour Organization and the International Organization for Migration:

  • 49.6 million people live in modern slavery – in forced labour and forced marriage.
  • Roughly a quarter of all victims of modern slavery are children.
  • 22 million people are in forced marriages. Two out of five of these people were children.
  • Of the 27.6 million people trapped in forced labour, 17.3 million are in forced labour exploitation in the private economy, 6.3 million are in commercial sexual exploitation, and nearly 4 million are in forced labour imposed by state authorities.
  • The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the conditions that lead to modern slavery.
  • Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to forced labour.

Source: Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage, Geneva, September 2022 

What is modern slavery?

At Anti-Slavery International, we define modern slavery as when an individual is exploited by others, for personal or commercial gain. Whether tricked, coerced, or forced, they lose their freedom. This includes but is not limited to human trafficking, forced labour and debt bondage.

Slavery can take many different forms, such as:

  • forced labour and bonded labour
  • human trafficking
  • descent-based slavery
  • worst forms of child labour
  • slavery in supply chains
  • forced and early marriage
  • the exploitation of migrant workers in conditions amounting to slavery

Our mission is to stop slavery and to secure freedom for everyone, everywhere, always.

In which countries does slavery exist?

Slavery exists all around the world and no country is free from a risk of slavery. According to the Global Slavery Index, the countries with the highest prevalence of modern slavery are North Korea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.

Check International Labour Organization’s global estimates of forced labour

Child work, child labour, child slavery – what’s the difference? 

The terms around exploitation of children can be quite confusing so here is a short guide:

  • Child work. Some types of work make useful, positive contributions to a child’s development, helping them learn useful skills. Often, work is also a vital source of income for their families
  • Child labour. Child labour is not slavery, but nevertheless hinders children’s education and development. Child labour tends to be undertaken when the child is in the care of their parents
  • Worst forms of child labour. As well as slavery and forced labour, the worst forms of child labour include “hazardous work”, which irreversibly damages children’s health and development through, for example, exposure to dangerous machinery or toxic substances, and may even endanger their lives
  • Child slavery. Child slavery is when a child is handed over and exploited for someone else’s gain, meaning the child will have no way to leave the situation or person exploiting them
  • Child trafficking. Trafficking involves transporting, recruiting or harbouring people for the purpose of exploitation, using violence, threats or coercion. When children are trafficked, no violence, deception or coercion needs to be involved. Child trafficking is merely the act of transporting or harbouring children for exploitative work

Is child marriage slavery?

Although marriages involving children will not always amount to slavery, particularly between couples aged 16 to 18 years who are both consenting individuals, many will. Child marriage can be referred to as slavery, if one or more of the following elements are present:

  • If the child has not genuinely given their free and informed consent to enter the marriage.
  • If the child is subjected to control and a sense of “ownership” in the marriage itself, particularly through abuse and threats, and is exploited by being forced to undertake domestic chores within the marital home or labour outside it, and/or engage in non-consensual sexual relations.
  • If the child cannot realistically leave or end the marriage, leading potentially to a lifetime of slavery.

Isn’t tackling slavery just about arresting and prosecuting the perpetrators?

Slavery is a very complex problem with root causes of poverty, discrimination, and the lack of rule of law. When people are desperate to find an income and provide for themselves and their families, they may be at greater risk of being exploited. This may include accepting a job overseas and then being forced to work for little or no money in conditions they didn’t agree to, or by borrowing money and working to repay but without any control over the conditions or the debt.

If there are conditions perpetuating slavery, simply arresting and prosecuting the perpetrators isn’t going to solve the problem, especially when they are protected by bad laws, laws not being implemented or corrupt governments. Only if we address the underlying causes can we end slavery.

Questions about slavery in the UK

Does slavery exist in the UK today?

One person in slavery is one too many, but according to the latest Global Slavery Index, there are estimated to be over 120,000 people living in modern slavery in the UK, which is more people than the population of Exeter. The Home Office monitors the numbers of potential victims of modern slavery who are referred for support and these figures are released every quarter.

I’ve heard of sex trafficking – what other forms of exploitation are happening in the UK?

Trafficking for sex work is a form of forced labour, which is the most prevalent form of modern slavery in the UK. In situations of forced labour, a person may be forced to work for others in harsh conditions or in criminal activities, often for little or no pay.

Labour exploitation in the UK exists in areas such as food processing, factories, construction, car wash, catering, agriculture and tarmacking, as well in private homes in domestic work. Other forms include forced criminality and organ harvesting.

What did the Modern Slavery Act achieve?

The Modern Slavery Act (2015) was a pioneering start in the UK’s journey towards eradicating the worst forms of slavery in the UK.

The Act has done much to raise awareness of the issue of modern slavery and to identify and prosecute perpetrators of modern slavery. However, the Act does not go anywhere near far enough. The UK needs more robust victim protection in place, allowing victims of trafficking to remain in the UK and get the support they need. Meanwhile, more training and additional resources are required for the police and other authorities to spot and identify modern-day slavery.

And when it comes to slavery in supply chains all around the world, we urgently need a suite of measures to tackle modern slavery. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 has sadly been proven insufficient to drive real change in business practice and to protect workers. We need a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act – to hold businesses accountable for cleaning up their supply chains – and import controls to stop goods made with forced labour from entering the UK market.

How can I identify that someone is in slavery and what should I do?

Slavery is often hidden and can be difficult to identify, but there are few signs which might mean that someone is in slavery. Someone in slavery might:

  • appear to be in the control of someone else and reluctant to interact with others.
  • not have personal identification on them.
  • have few personal belongings, wear the same clothes every day or wear unsuitable clothes for work.
  • not be able to move around freely.
  • be reluctant to talk to strangers or the authorities.
  • appear frightened, withdrawn, or show signs of physical or psychological abuse.
  • dropped off and collected for work always in the same way, especially at unusual times, i.e. very early or late at night.

If you believe you spotted someone who might be in slavery, you can call the Modern Slavery Helpline on 0800 0121 700, or you can simply call the police or Crimestoppers. Do not try to intervene on your own as it might make the situation of that person worse.

Supporting Anti-Slavery International

How can I support Anti-Slavery International?

We can all have a role to play in ending modern slavery and you can start today by becoming a member of Anti-Slavery International.

There are so many things that you can do to support Anti-Slavery International’s work, and we encourage you to find creative ways to use your time, money and voice to support our important mission. Anti-Slavery International also needs the financial support of supporters and engaged citizens from around the globe to continue exposing cases and campaigning against modern slavery in the 21st century.

We are a small organisation with big ambitions. Be part of the people powering freedom:

What will my money do?

Your money will be spent in our global projects fighting slavery around the world – campaigning for survivors to be treated with dignity in the UK; winning landmark convictions against enslavers in Mauritania; making sure workers are empowered with their rights in Mauritius and advocating for world-leading legislation to compel companies to put people and the planet before profit. Join the people powering freedom.

How do you spend my money?

Your money goes directly to helping people affected by slavery in the very communities where slavery still exists.

We’ll use your donations in the best way possible to make change happen.

For every £1 you give, 83p is spent on supporting our partners to help free and empower people trapped in modern slavery and trafficking around the world.*

17p is spent on fundraising to generate future income and ensure your donation is still changing lives tomorrow.*

*as of 22/23 Anti-Slavery International annual report.
Back to top Top